Glumicalyx goseloides at the Sani Pass

Glumicalyx goseloides, the nodding chocolate flower or gooseneck flower, used to be known as Zaluzianskya goseloides. The genus forms part of the Scrophulariaceae or snapdragon family.

The plant is an evergreen perennial growing to about 40 cm. The leaves have slightly toothed or scalloped margins. Both the leaves and the flowers are scented: the flowers are said to smell of chocolate, the leaves have a spicy aroma. The flowers grow in pendulous heads with orange petal lobes, white on the lower surfaces.

The habitat is high mountain ground in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg and Lesotho (Manning, 2009; www.sequimrareplants.com).